


don't leave the party dying

by IntraOrbital (trickshire)



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Halloween, Other, a man and his space slime attempt dating, male pronouns for Venom, mentions of eating people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 06:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16470779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trickshire/pseuds/IntraOrbital
Summary: Venom was definitely never allowed to go trick or treating.





	don't leave the party dying

If ever there was a city that loved Halloween more than any other, San Francisco would be it. Eddie had moved here some time after the yearly Halloween party in the Castro was finally banned for getting too big to control—somewhat to his regret, he’d have liked to see it at least once—but the natives still went pretty over the top celebrating the holiday all over the city, every single year. Before he’d come here, Eddie had thought of Halloween the same as mostly everyone else he knew did—a commercial holiday for kids to grow out of and adults to indulge them in until then. But in San Francisco, it was almost entirely a citywide party for adults that sometimes lasted the better part of a week, and trick or treating was basically an afterthought in comparison.

At first, Venom didn’t pay much attention to the early signs of people gearing up for the impending celebration, though the candy bags being piled up at the front of every store meant a lot more of him insisting on Eddie buying as many treats as they could carry. It wasn’t until the third week of October that he finally asked why everything was so orange lately, and even then he showed little interest in it. When Eddie started to explain that the candy was meant to give to children the symbiote sounded personally offended by the idea that anyone else would ever get _their_ chocolate, and that was the end of that conversation.

Halloween was only a week away when Venom asked, **Eddie, what is “trick or treat?” There are signs with those words everywhere we go.**

“’s a Halloween thing,” Eddie replied around a mouthful of Chinese takeout, only half paying attention as he browsed through apartment listings online. They’d gotten another shithole apartment after the Life Foundation had trashed his last complex, but his articles were bringing in enough these days to fund renting a space that felt a little less like a penitentiary. While Venom could tweak his endocrine system to keep him from getting too depressed at their living state, he’d rather not be putting his other to the trouble in the first place. And besides, Venom had left his entire race and way of life to stay here on Earth—the least Eddie could do was make his time here a little more enjoyable. “Don’t think you’d be too interested.”

**Wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t something we wanted to know about.**

Eddie clicked on a listing, gave it a cursory glance, and paged back with a disgusted groan. “Why do none of these places have a kitchen or dedicated bathroom? Look, V, you can just flip through my memories if you really wanna know. You sure do it enough already.”

**Memories without context aren’t the same.** Venom actually sounded a little annoyed. **We understand human things better when you explain them.**

Eddie sighed. “It’s the thing I mentioned before where you give out candy. You dress up in a costume, someone or something different or ridiculous or scary or whatever, and you go around the neighborhood ringing doorbells, and when people open the door you say ‘trick or treat’ and they’ll give you candy. The kids love it, it’s the only time of year they can get whole bucketfuls of sugary goodness without getting in trouble.”

Venom suddenly sounded very excited. **Eddie! We must go trick or treat!**

“Whoa, hold your horses there, buddy. People give candy to _kids_ , they’re not gonna hand sweets out to some scruffy thirtysomething bum. I don’t have the cute, innocent face to pull off a heist like that.”

**Your face is perfect,** Venom insisted reflexively. **You said this was a costumed holiday and that people dress as strange and scary things. Why not go as _us_? It will be very impressive. Surely people will give us their chocolate for that, even if we are not an adolescent human.**

“Yeahhhh, not so much.” Eddie felt a sense of growing alarm. He should probably be heading this idea off at the pass, before Venom got too attached to it. “The point isn’t to be _actually_ scary, just to play at it. Most people don’t know your cuddly side like I do, there’ll be a lot of screaming and running and every kid unfortunate enough to see us will be traumatized by Halloween for life.”

**That’s fine. The children will make excellent snacks,** Venom said innocently. **Problem solved.**

“We are absolutely _never_ eating kids, V! If you even _joke_ about that ever again I will rave both of us to death, I’m not kidding.”

**Spoilsport. We wouldn’t actually.** Venom sounded sulky, which wasn’t comforting.

“Anyway, this isn’t really the place to trick or treat,” Eddie added, determined to completely eliminate the possibility. “S.F. isn’t that kinda city for the most part. Here people just spend half a week dressing up, partying and drinking themselves stupid.”

**The human obsession with poisoning themselves for fun will never make sense,** Venom grumbled. **Trick or treating would be much better.**

“Hate to break it to you, but too much sugar usually poisons us too,” Eddie said, finally taking another bite of his lo mein. He made a face—it had gone cold. “If you couldn’t screw around with my insides I’d probably have developed type 2 diabetes after a week of being ‘us.’”

**That’s different. You need some sugar to live. You don’t need alcohol for anything.**

“A lot of people would disagree with you on that one,” Eddie murmured. “But yeah, no parties for me either. We’ll just stay in and eat five bulk bags of fun sized Snickers or something. Okay?” He opened up another listing.

Venom made a contented hum that sang through his bones at the thought, and in the back of his mind Eddie congratulated himself on successfully diverting and/or bribing his other away from the topic. He extruded one black tendril and tapped on the back of Eddie’s hand on the mouse. **Your eyes are tired. We can look at more new nests tomorrow.**

“I’m not a bird, V,” Eddie told him with fond exasperation, but he could take a hint. He closed the laptop and let his symbiote steer them to bed. They wouldn’t get any rest for quite some time, but he knew he’d sleep well when they got there.

                                                                                                    

* * *

 

A couple days after Eddie assumed he’d addressed the subject for good—at least for this year—he dozed off in front of the TV. It wasn’t a surprise to come to sometime around midnight and find Venom had picked something to watch during that down time—it was a pretty frequent occurrence, honestly. When he processed what the symbiote had decided to put on, he squinted groggily, unsure of whether he was still dreaming. “Did—did’ju put on _’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown_?”

**It is educational,** Venom replied happily. **Eddie, if anyone gives us a rock instead of chocolate while trick or treating, we must eat them to set an example.**

“An example of _what_?” Eddie wasn’t sure yet if he found Venom defiling his childhood memories like this more or less disturbing than the time he’d woken up to his other raptly watching anime tentacle snuff porn. (He still wanted to know how Venom had ended up anywhere he could even find that to begin with.) “Told you before, babe, we are _not_ going trick or treating. Give it a rest, okay?”

**If we do not trick or treat, then I still think we should track down and eat anyone promising chocolate and giving out rocks. Think of the poor, betrayed children, Eddie.**

“Rocks don’t actually happen, V. Worst I ever got was a toothbrush, and we egged that dickhead’s car. That’s why it’s called trick _or_ treat, if you don’t get candy you take revenge into your own hands. The kids’ll be fine.” He yawned, stretched. His neck and shoulders were stiff from lying on the couch, and as they protested the movement he felt Venom extend some of his mass out to cover the problem areas, warming and massaging them. “Ahhh, that’s perfect. Anyway, why do I get the feeling you’re mostly just interested in running around terrorizing the city for a night?”

**At least let us eat the Great Pumpkin.**

“The Great Pumpkin isn’t a thing either, hate to break it to you.” Eddie nodded at the screen. “Even in the show, Linus ends up waiting all night for nothing.”

**Why does this cartoon allow these children to repeatedly get their hopes up for nothing?** Venom said with obvious disgust.

“That’s Peanuts for you. Kinda cynical for a kid’s cartoon and comic, really, it’s all about managing your expectations. I wouldn’t think about it too hard.”

**That is because you don’t like thinking too hard about anything.**

“Wow, harsh! That cuts, V, that cuts deep.” Despite his lighthearted tone, Eddie frowned. Now that he was fully awake, he was picking up on Venom’s emotions better, and this felt like more than the symbiote’s usual resigned petulance at having his ideas vetoed. “What’s the matter? You don’t usually get so bent out of shape over human things. C’mon, you already know we’re going to pig out on all the candy we can eat next week. ’Specially the day after Halloween, the stores all slash prices trying to get it off the shelves.”

**I do not CARE about the candy.**

“Somehow I doubt that, but yeah, I got that that’s not the reason you’re in a mood. So tell me. What _do_ you care about here? You know me, I’m a dumbass, I won’t know if you don’t tell me.” He felt a pang of nostalgia, remembering all the times he’d said those exact words to Anne. Sometimes he felt guilty for moving on, for not missing her anymore, but it was rare for him to wish for the life they’d had before, these days. It had worked out in the end, after all.

He could feel Venom pick up on where his train of thought had strayed, and then a spike of—resentment? **You had fun with Annie,** he said, as if it were an accusation. **Every Halloween.**

“Uh, yeah? You’ve never gotten jealous over Annie before, I don’t get why you picked this to start. You know that’s all over now, V.”

**You would dress up together. Go out together. Walk the streets and enjoy being seen together.**

“Well, yeah, sure. But V, honey, we go out all the time—”

**We go out as _you_. Not as us. We _know_ that we can’t run around as us most of the time. That we must be a secret when we aren’t needed. We are scary to humans, and strange, and so we have to hide. And that is fine.** Venom sounded sincere about that, if not very happy. **But this holiday is a night for strange and scary things. And still you say that we cannot. You do not want us to be seen like you did with her.**

“Oh. Oh, baby, _no_ , that isn’t—I wasn’t even thinking about that. Not at all,” Eddie assured him, now feeling overwhelmingly guilty. “I was just thinking about people getting hurt, or _you_ getting hurt, or—we’d still stick out, you know? But if you just want to go out and walk around, I mean, we probably couldn’t go to dinner or parties or bars, but yeah, we can make that work. I swear, I wasn’t trying to leave you out.”

**Then we can go out together? As us, together?** Venom still sounded a little sullen, but he had obviously perked up as Eddie had rambled on.

“Sure we can. It’s a date. Candy, evening strolls, and no murder.”

**We should still find someone to eat. Someone evil, of course. For justice.**

“It’s _Halloween,_ ” Eddie laughed. “The amount of drunk assholes who’ll be starting trouble? In _this_ town? You’ll be spoiled for choice.”

 

* * *

 

Eddie wasn’t sure if he was nervous or if Venom’s excitement was infectious. Either way, he was keyed up and his pulse was racing as they left the apartment, not yet in their combined form—no need for _that_ to be seen leaving Well-Known Reporter Eddie Brock’s apartment, even if he was still working his way back out of the hole of obscurity Drake had thrown him into. He’d talked Venom out of going out on Halloween itself, which fell on a weeknight this year, by mentioning that the weekend would bring out more people. Apparently, the symbiote had been very serious about wanting them to be seen around town together. The fact that almost anyone who saw them would think they were a single person didn’t seem to bother him at all.

Honestly, it was kinda cute. Even if Eddie’s anxiety was through the roof ( _what if someone realized it wasn’t a costume? What if they were recognized? What if the cops got called in on them?_ ), it was worth it to see how happy it made his other to get a chance to experience Eddie’s everyday world a little more directly. He stepped into a dingy little alley and took a deep breath to help calm his nerves. “All right, sweetheart. Ready to have a great Saturday night out?”

**We always have a good time when we are together,** Venom purred silkily, and then swarmed from Eddie’s skin to envelop him in comforting black. It never stopped being exhilarating, the feeling of Venom— _consuming_ him, almost, not devouring but possessing, holding him covetously as though he were something precious to jealously guard from the world. Especially since Venom had the power to actually _do_ that, power he happily shared with Eddie.

“Remember those contingencies we talked about,” Eddie said as they flexed their claws, basking in the sensation of being wholly together again. From the depths of their chest, Venom sounded amused as he rumbled, “ **We remember. We think it’s likelier _you_ will flub the lines, with how much you’ve worked yourself up. Relax, Eddie, and let us take care of us.** ”

“Okay, okay. Let’s head out. Wanna swing by Coit Tower first?”

“ **Yes. You always enjoy walking through North Beach.** ”

“You know me so well, babe.” Eddie grinned behind their shared face, and settled in to let Venom drive for a while.

It had been getting colder as the city shifted from its usual summer-like autumn into more wintry weather—this was probably the last nice weekend for a while, and even so, there was a chilly bite in the air tonight—so they had brought a few blankets out with them. They tucked the bundle under their arm and headed through Chinatown. By now it was fading from twilight into dark, and a bunch of the shops had closed up for the night, but there were still people ambling through the streets, so they were getting near-constant stares. It felt as though Eddie’s heart jumped into his throat every time someone’s line of sight crossed over them, but Venom was practically preening at all the attention, so they couldn’t really be unhappy about it.

As they’d expected, there was a small cluster of homeless in Jack Kerouac Alley as they crossed from Chinatown into North Beach—they’d noticed this group there pretty often lately, though Eddie didn’t know any of them personally—and so they lumbered over, holding out the blankets. Eddie shaped the words in Venom’s voice, “ **Hey, did some late spring cleaning and thought someone else could put these to better use. You want ’em?** ”

They all gawked, of course, but no one was screaming and running, so that was a positive. One of them, a scrawny guy in his 40s or early 50s with an impressive beard, a beanie and a very battered spiral notebook, darted forward after a few moments, snatching the blankets from their hands in a flash. He mumbled something like “Thanks” as he backed off equally quickly, but didn’t meet their eyes. That was fine—they were an unnerving sight for anyone in this form, and the homeless of San Francisco tended not to trust people outside their little groups easily in any case.

One of the others came forward, stopping just outside of arm’s reach and peering at them. “Shit, man, that’s one great costume. You really went overboard.”

They were ready for this. Venom shifted their form slightly as Eddie surfaced, and he peeled the black away from their human face starting at the neck, as if they were wearing a mask. “Yeah, I figured, what the hell. Might as well have fun, right? Anyway, stay warm, guys. Maybe I’ll see you around, maybe not, so take care.” They pulled the symbiote’s flesh back down, letting it fuse back to their neck again, and nodded to the group as they started towards the other end of the alley.

Most of the guys said some variation on “thanks” or “bye,” drifting back into their own conversations. On the edge of their vision, the man who’d taken the blankets was kneeling down next to the only woman of the group, curled up with one of the dogs and obviously barely conscious, talking to her softly as he settled the thickest blanket over her. Another man was already sitting next to her, apparently keeping an eye on passersby when he wasn’t trying to get her to drink from a tall can of Arizona set next to her head. They supposed she must be pretty ill, and hoped she’d be okay on the streets tonight, but they’d done what they could here for now.

Moments later, they were having a small internal fight over going into City Lights; they both enjoyed browsing through the bookstore, but Eddie insisted tonight was definitely _not_ the time to pop in for some new reading material. Venom reluctantly agreed after a few minutes, and they continued up Columbus, carefully shouldering past the crowds of costumed twentysomethings. They had pulled the “unmasking” trick a few more times by the time they reached Washington Square, so when Venom decided to stop at a gelato shop, Eddie didn’t pull the brakes this time. The teenager behind the counter only looked at them with the dull, resigned gaze of someone who’d had much weirder nights than this, and asked monotonously if they’d like any other flavors with their dark chocolate.

As they continued uphill towards Coit Tower, the crowds thinned out and then nearly disappeared, so Eddie started to get more chatty. It was kind of fun to be the voice in Venom’s head when it usually was the other way around, but he didn’t want them attracting even more attention with seemingly talking to no one in the middle of a bunch of strangers.

“ **Why do we have to climb all of these stairs? We could jump up to the tower and then scale it easily.** ”

_Because the point is to appreciate the sights along the way, and we’re not scaling any towers tonight. Stop whining, I know for a fact your legs aren’t going to feel the burn from climbing._

“ **It seems counterproductive to go sightseeing at night. Of course _we_ can see, but humans in general have very little night vision. But we know that you’ve taken this same walk at the same time with Anne.** ”

_Yeah. It’s nice. You don’t usually get to see it this quiet, and there’s something really nice about walking up here with good company when the stars are out._

Venom made a pleased rumble at “good company,” and then there was an audible plastic _snap_. A moment later, he said wistfully, “ **Our teeth broke the tiny garbage spoon.** ”

_Sure did. It’s fine, no one’s around, you can go ahead and slurp up the rest._

Venom immediately went to town on the gelato cup. He had agreed not to let his enormous, prehensile tongue out in public tonight, and Eddie couldn’t help feeling pleased at his obvious happiness at having the ban temporarily lifted. “ **We should have gelato more often, Eddie.** ”

_Maybe when you’re very, very good, V. Think of it as an incentive._

“ **We are the best, so we will expect to break plenty of tiny garbage spoons in the future,** ” Venom replied smugly as they finally reached the base of the tower.

_Wow, arrogant._

“ **It’s true. We are _always_ at our best when we are together,** ” Venom said, as if it were an unshakeable fact. “ **You make us good, Eddie, and no one else can. We like that.** ”

They stood in silence for a while, looking out over the bay together, at the bright lights along the lines of the bridges, at the fainter specks of Sausalito and Marin County. Eddie was struck by the thought that a year ago, he wouldn’t have understood how lucky he was, or even called an alien invading his mind and puppeting his body at will “lucky.” How odd life was, that now he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“ **I will never trade you,** ” Venom said, clearly picking up on his idle thoughts. “ **There is nothing that could be offered which we would hold to have the smallest value compared to you. You are mine, and we are forever.** ”

Eddie couldn’t find any words for a few moments. It was a declaration that should be creepy, but from Venom, it was just…pure, good, _everything_. Finally he said, _Well, forever’s an awfully long time, so let’s get a head start on eternity and go back down for the rest of our date._ Affectionately, he added, _Sap._

“ **Yours,** ” Venom growled, turning to make their way back down the winding paths. “ **As you are mine.** ”

_Are you going to keep flirting, or are we going to get to work on headhunting some creeps?_

“ **We are very talented, what makes you think we can’t do both?** ”

_You have some very twisted ideas of romance._

They made their way back down to Columbus, stopping off at one of the little Italian cafés in the area—almost everything stayed open late here, with it being such a tourist nightlife destination—and picking up a hot toddy. They popped the lid off and guzzled the whole thing in one go; Venom immediately decided that he liked it and ordered another before resuming their stroll.

As they rounded City Lights again, they saw a pair of drunken assholes in the alley, one of them shoving at the guy in the beanie, the other leaning over the sick woman and slurring what he probably thought were pickup lines.

_Well, V? It’s Halloween. Go get your treats, let’s give them a real scare._

They smiled as one, and stepped into the alley.

**Author's Note:**

> I swore I would never write holiday themed fic, but one beautiful xeno romcom later and here we are. I've resigned myself to my fate.


End file.
